The Ministry Of The Word Of God

Mark 2:23-28 Jesus Is Lord Of The Sabbath.

There are some who want to suggest that Jesus was only refuting the tradition of the Pharisees here. However, a closer examination of the law itself would suggest otherwise (vv. 23-24 Cf. Ex. 20:10; 31:15; Mt. 12:1-8; Lk. 6:1-5). It was permissible for one travelling through or by a neighbour’s field to pluck some heads of grain or grapes on the way, but not to harvest by taking additional grain or grapes etc in a container, but this was not in reference to the Sabbath (Dt. 23:24-25). A more specific example of an application of the Decalogue would be the example of the gathering of manna. The Israelites were not to gather beyond what they needed for that day, like the example above, except on the Sabbath. On the Sabbath they were not to gather even enough to eat on the Sabbath, because the LORD would provide enough on the day before the Sabbath for two days without it spoiling (Ex. 16:1-30). There can be no doubt that Jesus upheld the law of gathering for one on a journey, but what about gathering on the Sabbath?

One might try arguing that the manna experience was a unique test, but even there, reference is made to the law of the Sabbath. It would appear to make more sense to say that Jesus was altering the administration, otherwise why would he say that he was also the Lord of the Sabbath, because if he was making a straight defense of the lawfulness of the act why would he not refer to Exodus 16 as but a test? This was a declaration of his deity as Lord of the Sabbath, that as God he had that authority, even as his declaring a man’s sins forgiven was also a testimony to his Deity (v. 28 Cf. 2:1-12). Jesus’ resurrection also changed the day from the last day of the week to the first. Still one in seven, but an administrative change. Jesus made the point that even within the old testament itself there was the example of David and those with him eating the showbread, which was only lawful for the priests to eat (vv. 25-26; I Sam. 21:1-6; Lev. 24:5-9). Jesus was arguing for his practice, based on a greater principle within the law itself – that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath (v. 27).